Book Review: Cold Feet: The Lost Years by Carmel Harrington
Hodder & Stoughton, September 2017
Reeling from the sudden death of Rachel, his beloved wife, Adam has no time to grieve. He has to keep going, for the sake of their baby son.
Jenny moves back in with ex-husband Pete, eight and a half months pregnant with another man’s child. Can their relationship overcome past jealousies?
Karen and David agree to an amicable divorce – but that’s before he sleeps with the divorce lawyer . . .
Cold Feet is one of my favourite TV shows. It has been for a long time. I was so pleased when they announced they were bringing it back for a sixth and seventh season. Then once I realised that there was also a book, there was much excitement but also a little trepidation. Could the book live up to the greatness of the TV show? Would the characters feel the same?
In a nutshell, in my opinion. Yes.
The Lost Years focuses on the few months after Adam leaves Manchester with the baby, a suitcase and the memory of Rachel. He is with his Dad, not knowing what to do next.
Pete and Jenny are trying to navigate around their resurrected relationship and then the impending arrival of the new baby whilst Karen, David and Robyn are not sure what to make of their new dynamic.
I won’t go too much further into the plot but what I will say is that this book retains the charm.
I loved catching up with these characters. After five series I had become so invested in them. This book was like catching up with old friends and so I couldn’t put this book down to be honest.
I loved the fact that Rachel is still involved despite the fact that she isn’t technically around. The humour and warmth of the TV show still comes across. Also, like the TV show, there were moments when I was in tears.
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Book Extract: Sun, Sea & Sex by Greta Horwood
A big hello to author Greta Horwood and the blog tour for her novel, Sun, Sea & Sex which was released by Author House UK in August.
About Sun, Sea & Sex:
The book tells of the trials and tribulations of Zeeta, who has overcome many obstacles and survived different relationships. A loving marriage led to a horrendous one. Her second marriage was to a man with a depraved sexual appetite.
The sunny parts were when everything was going well. There were choppy seas between when things were not going right, not just in a relationship but in general life.
Also there were times when the sea was calm and all three women were coping well. The sex within relationships was, in the most part, good to excellent. In Zeeta’s second marriage, sex was a nightmare.
She endured and suffered.
Happy ever after on a Caribbean island. Zeeta survived with the help of two friends—one from her school days, Sheila, and the second one was Peggy, her boss and a very good friend. Their relationships and stories are part of this book.
Greta has very kindly shared an extract from Sun, Sea & Sex with us today. Here’s a brief introduction to the scene;
Zeeta was at college, a new life full of new experiences. A chance accident where Zeeta was pushed to the floor, by a revolving door, led to an unlikely friendship with an Arabian Prince, Armaan. He was to advise her about men and gave her a sex education without the actions. Her time with Armaan left her wanting more, but she did not know what more meant. Being kissed by Armaan led to more feelings of wanting more. It left Zeeta confused. He abruptly stopped his kissing, that led to more confusion, he was pushing her away. Zeeta could not understand, she loved him, but having no experience of love, she could only guess the feelings she had were love.
Armaan appears throughout the book, during other relationships. Meeting him at these other times, Zeeta knew she loved and wanted him.
The Extract….
(Warning: Adult content.)
Armaan was back. I can’t explain my feelings in seeing him. I was overwhelmed by them. Yes I missed him, but what I was feeling was more than that. We continued with our easy friendship and he said he was delighted to be back. He was now married and his wife was expecting their first child. He was a different person now, I think the worry of not having a wife was bothering him, but now he was married, life had suddenly became enjoyable. He said he enjoyed my company and although he was 14 years older than me, I was not empty headed like the gigglers. We continued our friendship and I often felt he was preparing me for the life I would eventually lead. He said my blue eyes and personality would attract many man, but I would know who was right for me. He said beware of false promises, men will say they love, but often it is a way to easy sex, so beware of false promises.
He said he had stones cast for my future and these foretold of a happy life with two children. He said choose a husband older than myself, he would be considerate. That happened my husband was older than me and he was considerate.
We had many of these talks, he was the perfect gentleman and I loved him. Well I thought these feelings I had for him were love, I had never felt like this. I had limited experience, but hoped the feelings I was having, were love, they were very pleasant.
by Blog Tour: Book Review of No Way Back By Kelly Florentia
Urbane Publications
Kelly Florentia is my guest today with the blog tour for her new novel, No Way Back.
When two eligible and attractive men are vying for your heart, it should be the perfect dilemma…
Audrey Fox has been dumped by her unreliable fiancé Nick Byrne just days before the wedding. Heartbroken and confused, the last thing she expects when she jumps on a plane to convalesce in Cyprus is romance.
But a chance meeting with handsome entrepreneur and father-of-one Daniel Taylor weaves her into a dating game she’s not sure she’s ready for. Audrey’s life is thrown into further turmoil when she discovers on her return to London that Nick has been involved in a serious motorcycle accident that’s left him in intensive care.
Distraught yet determined to look to the future, Audrey must make a decision – follow her heart or listen to well-meaning advice from family and friends? Because sometimes, no matter what, it’s the people that we love who can hurt us the most…
My verdict on No Way Back.
I fast became a fan of Kelly’s writing after reading The Magic Touch so I was very eager to get my hands on No Way Back.
No Way Back is told from the point of view of Audrey who is looking forward to marrying her boyfriend of eight years, Nick.
However, when he leaves her just before they are due to get married, Audrey is heartbroken. She escapes to Cyprus with her parents for a few days. This is where she meets a mysterious man on the beach. Having seen that he is there with his wife and child, she doesn’t think anything of it until he turns up again back in England and things with him aren’t what she first thought.
Can this man help her get over Nick or is she not ready? Is this person right for her?
Audrey is a wonderful character and from the start of No Way Back I warmed to her immediately. She has had her heart-broken in such a horrible way and I want to step into the novel and give her a hug. I got invested in her story very early one and came to really care about her.
Most of the supporting characters around her are great. Louise and Audrey’s parents especially.
They are all very protective over Audrey and all tell her she shouldn’t see Nick which, at the time Audrey can’t understand but the reasons soon become obvious and there are things going on that have been kept secret.
by NK Chats To… Lola Jaye About Her New Novel, Orphan Sisters
Orphan Sisters is the new novel from the fabulous, Lola Jaye and I am excited to be a part of her blog tour to celebrate the paperback release.
Their Nigerian parents have emigrated to England in search of a better life for their family. Nineteen Fifties London is a great adventure to the girls but not always welcoming. There are signs in windows of lodging houses warning: ‘no blacks, no dogs, no Irish’.
When tragedy strikes and the girls lose their father, their mother is unable to cope. When she fails to recover from the surprise birth of another child all three girls are sent to an orphanage. Lana is determined to keep her sisters together but when baby Tina gets adopted, she must admit their family is about to be torn apart – perhaps for ever…
Hi Lola. It’s so lovely to welcome you to Novel Kicks today. Your new novel is called Orphan Sisters. Can you tell me a little about it and what inspired you to tell this story?
Orphan Sisters is a saga spanning thirty years but primarily set in 1960’s London where three little girls were supposed to be living the dream of their immigrant parents. However, they end up living a nightmare many migrants, even today, often face. I have always been so inspired by my parents, aunties, uncles and all those who came to the UK from the former colonies in the hopes of a better life. They faced racism, hardship and were basically told to ‘go back to where you came from!‘ constantly. Having not read much on migration when it came to Nigerians, I wanted to tell their story.
What’s your typical writing day like and do you have any rituals whilst writing (silence, coffee, a specific place to write etc.)
When I’m not being distracted by endless cat pictures on the Internet, I settle down with a glass of water by my side and just write. After a couple of hours I will break and make a smoothie, watch a TV program perhaps and then start writing again. My needs are subject to change though. For example, in the UK I generally sit at my desk in my living room with the television out of sight and in silence. But in Atlanta (where I lived for two and a half years until recently) I sat in a lovely little bubble tea shop and wrote whilst the hustle and bustle didn’t seem to disturb me at all!
What challenges did you face when writing a book in a historical setting?
I tended to get deeply involved with the research. There was so much I didn’t know about the history of race in the United Kingdom. Having lived in America, I’d become immersed in the American experience, but there’s so much to learn about regarding the UK. I found myself reading and over reading my research, having to remind myself that I actually had a book to write!
by Book Review: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Penguin, May 2015
Jane hasn’t lived anywhere for longer than six months since her son was born five years ago. She keeps moving in an attempt to escape her past. Now the idyllic coastal town of Pirriwee has pulled her to its shores and Jane feels as if she finally belongs. She finds friends in the feisty Madeline and the incredibly beautiful Celeste, two women with seemingly perfect lives – and their own secrets.
But at the start of a new term, an incident involving the children of all three women occurs in the playground, causing a rift between them and other parents. Minor at first but escalating fast, until the whispers and rumours become vicious and spiteful, and the truths blur into lies.
It was always going to end in tears, but no one thought it would end in murder . . .
I am a big fan of Liane’s novels but for some reason I didn’t read this novel until after the TV series came out which of course i couldn’t help myself and watched.
Normally, I can’t read a book after seeing an adaptation on the screen. However, this was not the case for this book.
From the moment I picked it up, I was hooked and I couldn’t stop reading.
It was good to see three main female characters. They are all very different and yet in some ways, similar. They are all hiding their own secrets and facing their own demons. They all become connected in a way they couldn’t imagine.
Celeste’s perfect life may not be as perfect as it seems. Madeline is never one to take anything lying down and is quite a positive person but even she isn’t completely happy. Jane is new to the area but there is a reason she’s there.
by Book Club
